Solar car team will try for third national
championship

By Sally Pobojewski News and Information
Services

Determined to continue the University's winning tradition
in solar racing, 15 U-M students and their solar-powered car, Solar
Vision, head for Indianapolis this week to prepare for the start of
Sunrayce 95.

Solar Vision will be one of 40 student-designed solar
cars competing in Sunrayce 95--a 1,200-mile intercollegiate race from
Indianapolis to Golden, Colo., June 20-29.

"Since U-M teams won
both the 1990 and 1993 Sunrayce competitions, expectations are high and we
expect the pressure on us during the race to be intense," says Betsy
White, a junior in mechanical engineering and 1995 Solar Car Team manager.
"We know it won't be easy, but we are determined to bring back a third
national championship for the U-M."

"The U-M Solar Car Team
exemplifies the Michigan spirit--the willingness to go all out to be the
very best," said President James J. Duderstadt. "All of us in Ann Arbor
are proud of this team, and we're hoping for another U-M victory."

Solar Vision, the U-M's third-generation solar car, features all-new
technology and is very different in design, construction and appearance
from its 1990 and 1993 predecessors, Sunrunner and Maize & Blue.

"Because Sunrayce 95's race route runs from east to west instead of
south to north as in previous races, our solar array is flat, instead of
curved, to capture the maximum amount of solar energy as we race with the
sun directly overhead," said Richard Holt, engineering team leader and a
senior in aerospace and mechanical engineering.

Solar Vision
features all-in-one monocoque carbon fiber body construction that is
lighter, stronger and more aerodynamically efficient than the aluminum
frame chassis used by the 1990 and 1993 teams. Problems in previous races
with blown tires prompted this year's team to switch to custom-designed
magnesium wheels and steel-belted radials.

Solar Vision is powered
by 3,204 monocrystalline silicon solar cells, each about the size of a
pocket calculator. The 19.5-foot-long car is propelled by an electric
motor, which draws power from the solar cells or five 12-volt, lead-acid
batteries. Without a driver, Solar Vision weighs just 695 pounds.

Grace Chan, a junior in electrical engineering, and Jason Harper, a
senior in electrical engineering, will take turns driving during the
1,200-mile, 10-day race.

More than 100 students from the College of
Engineering, School of Business Administration, School of Art, and College
of Literature, Science and the Arts have been part of the Solar Vision
team. In addition to working on design and construction, students
solicited donations of cash, materials and technical support worth more
than $1.2 million from corporate and individual sponsors.

Major
corporate sponsors for the 1995 Solar Car Team include Christy Industries
Inc. of Fraser, Mich., Ford Motor Co. and IBM.

Sunrayce 95 is
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, Electronic
Data Systems, Delphi, Chevrolet, Delco Electronics, GMC, Hughes Network
Systems, Midwest Research Institute and the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory.